Gun battles are raging today between Hamas militants and Israeli forces a day after the Islamist group launched a surprise attack on Israel from Gaza, in a dramatic conflict escalation.
Hundreds of people have been killed on both sides since the Iran-backed Hamas launched the multi-pronged assault at dawn yesterday, with Israeli forces fighting holdout militants and pounding the Gaza Strip with air strikes.The army said hundreds of Hamas militants attacked Israel from around 6.30 am yesterday, the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, in an assault that also came 50 years after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
The gunmen attacked a rave party attended by hundreds of young Israelis near Kibbutz Reim, close to Gaza, Israeli media reported. The army said it has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers to fight the militants in southern desert regions of Israel near Gaza. The military said it aims to rescue Israeli hostages and then evacuate the entire region within 24 hours.Israel says Hamas gunmen have killed more than 200 people and wounded over 1,000 in Israeli cities, towns and kibbutz communities.AFP journalists have seen the bodies of civilians lying on the streets in at least three locations in Israel: the city of Sderot, the nearby kibbutz of Gevim and Zikim beach north of the Palestinian coastal enclave.
Hamas has called on"resistance fighters in the West Bank" as well as in"Arab and Islamic nations" to join the battle. President Joe Biden said the United States' support for its key ally Israel was"rock solid and unwavering". A White House official said talks with Israel on military aid were"very much underway".
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